One of the more exciting features players can look forward to in EA Mythic's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning would definitely have to be the robust siege battles players can participate in the game. In an inside look explaining the mechanics behind sieging, you can read up on the unique dynamics behind this very interesting game mode by checking out the full article after the jump.

OnNet USA announced today that it has inked a channeling partnership deal with Flyff publisher Gala. Due to the partnership, OnNet USA will be providing Gala with the rights to offer Shot Online, OnNet USA's golf-centric MMORPG, on Gala's gPotato games portal.

"We are happy to have the opportunity to partner with Gala. Their experience in the online gaming industry is extensive and we look forward to this channeling partnership with them", said Kevin Kim, CEO of OnNet USA.

With over one million players worldwide, Shot Online is one of the biggest free-to-play MMORPGs in the world. Players can choose from among 15 exciting courses and are able to play either by themselves or against other players from around the world. The game also has a community feature that allows players to interact with each other in real-time.

We never thought online golf could be so cutthroat. With a US$ 1,200 cash prize for the winning guild, Shot Online's second Guild Tournament will have guilds stepping up to the tee for a shot at money and golfing supremacy!

From midnight of December 19 to 11:59 p.m. of January 7, guilds in OnNet's Shot Online can enter any course and play to acquire guild points. Your main job is to earn as many points as you can by having your guild go into a golfing frenzy.

The tournament's winning guild will be chosen by the average number of guild points for an individual member of that guild, so guilds with more members will need to earn a lot more points to reach the same average number as a guild with fewer members.

Here are the prizes:

• 1st Place - US$ 1,200
  
• 2nd Place - US$ 600
  
• 3rd Place - 5,000 Cyber Cash
• Lucky Guild - Lucky box for every member of the winning guild, with each box containing rare items
  

Well, what are you waiting for? Grab those clubs, learn how to golf, and play to win!

When was the last time you've washed your golf balls and waxed your clubs? Online, lots of people are stroking their way to victory as the 10th Progressive Open has just started. Shot-Online's monthly golf tournament started December 12 and is on-going until the 18th.

Here, players get to compete against each other in the same class. Beginners stick with beginners, amateurs with amateurs, pros and pros. Courses are randomly selected for the tourney and that adds that much more unpredictability and poses a challenge for old and new gamers alike.

OnNet USA will be collecting the "200,000 NG per try" entrance fees as the pot to be won by the top 20 in each category. Also, one lucky winner will be given a 3x Lucky Box - Putter!

If you're not feeling too comfortable with your ball-thwacking skills just yet, don't worry. There's still going to be another Open this January. You could win the cup there. If you need any practice though, it wouldn't hurt to try your hand in this month's Open.

How'd you like to be on TV? Okay, so maybe it ain't exactly the case, but in celebration of the opening of their GamesCampus.com games portal, OnNet is announcing the start of their Shot-Online Amateur Video Contest.

There won't be any age restrictions for this contest so anybody who thinks they can make the cut are welcome to join. The rules are simple: The video has to have at least one golf-related item in it - golf balls, clubs, courses, or carts are acceptable. Aside from that, contestants are challenged to go wild with their creativity, and are also challenged to send in as many videos as they can - there's no limit to video numbers either.

Winners of this contest may win an Alienware Area-51 7500 Desktop Computer with 17 inch LCD monitor, Microsoft Zune 30GB Digital Media Players, and other prices yet to be announced. We'll announce the details and submission deadline when we get more news on this.

Chris Yamauchi, Shot-Online GM, on the contest:

Many of our users are media savvy and we thought that it would be a fun way to get the Shot-Online community involved with the brand in a unique way.

To those out to score in this video competition, we wish you the best of luck. Click on the Read link for more info about the contest.

UK's first major trade show event since 2004, the London Games Festival, started the week-long celebration of interactive entertainment. It includes a variety of events that will surely delight gamers.

First is GDC London, an annual gathering of video game developers which comprise an expo and a variety of tutorials, lectures and roundtables by industry professionals on game-related topics covering programming, design, audio, production, business, legal issues, and art. Next is the London Games Summit which provides the most hard-hitting business content specifically developed for the industry. This is where top industry executives and key government ministers provide honest insights on the gaming business today.

Gamers will be in paradise as London Games Festival features other events which may interest them like the HMV's Games Showcases which feature a handful of playable games like Pro Stroke Golf, PDC World Championship Darts, Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 and Rockstar Games' Table Tennis, to name a few. It'll also feature The Game/Play and the Artful Gaming Exhibition.

The festival does not only cater to the gamers audience as it also provides diverse events that cater to parents who need advice on games or people who want to learn more about games and where the future of entertainment is currently heading. So its a festival that caters to almost everyone, not only to the gamers. And this also reflects that gaming is serious business. The festival aims to add learning to fun. Families can attend this celebration and take part in the activities. Check out the schedule of events here.

George Carlin had a lot of stuff to say about golf on his track, "Golf Courses for the Homeless". Good thing all of us nice people choose to play golf online, on our computers, where we don't waste land that could have been used for public housing. That is, if all of us nice people even get to play golf online.

If any of you have been experiencing any difficulties playing SyNET Entertainment's golf MMO, Shot-Online in the past few days, well don't worry. It's not just you. It appears that their server's been scheduled for an upgrade, hence, the gameplay/surfing troubles you've all been experiencing. Don't you think it's nice that the game was just released and they're already making server upgrades?

Now, the people of Shot-Online have announced on their website that their servers are up and running again. So go get your virtual clubs and practice your golf swings and getting under par.

"Golf is a game that is played on a five-inch course - the distance between your ears."

-Bobby Jones, Legend Golfer

Golf is a thinking gentleman's sport. Anyone can whack a golf ball; all it takes is a stick and some stamina. However, it takes a golfer to guide the ball to the right direction - and that takes more brain than muscle. It may be the reason why most people try golfing after work; to shift from the multitasking to the focus mode. It helps the mind relax more by just thinking of how to putt that golf ball. It sure beats thinking of how to juggle five projects at once.

Now you can experience golf in the safety of your own home: SyNET Entertainment just released, Shot-Online. The company boasts that it already has over 1 million players all over the world. It is the world's first full 3D PC online MMO Golf game with some RPG elements thrown into the mix. The in-game characters has the ability to level up like the usual RPG heroes. There will also be some guilds involved.

Regarding the sport side, the golf dynamics is supposed to be dead on with its real counterpart. The game includes 8 challenging, varied golf courses, and different camera angles to assist the gamers in swinging the ball. Buyers get an automatic $20 cybercash, an entry to exclusive tournaments, and a lottery ticket to win a set of $100 golf clubs. Virtual, of course. MSRP: $29.99, available now.

Joi Ito, Japanese venture capitalist and Level 60, Gnome Mage, couldn't have said it any better when posed with the question if World of Warcraft is just a game, "Yes, it's just a game. The way that the real world is a game."

Author of Synthetic Worlds and Indiana University Professor Edward Castronova (Level 42, Priest), raised a lot of eyebrows when he wrote in his blog an entry entitled "The Horde Is Evil," claiming that only the antisocial at heart would pick that darker side. The Horde is the more bestial of the two factions a player is asked to choose from when joining the game. Castronova believes that if someone behaves badly in the game—an example would be the WOW equivalent of spree killing, where someone ganks a character of a much lower level, just for the hell of it—that person should be judged harshly in the real world as well.

There were a couple of highly publicized degenerate acts that happened in WoW that would merit incarceration in real life. One of them happened in the Illidan PvP server, when the guild Serenity Now ambushed a funeral service held inside the game by a rival guild for one of  their members that died in real life of a heart attack. They recorded, edited and even added background music to it. Another incident that bothered Blizzard, was a naked protest made by Gnomes clamoring for more power.

Shot-Online is pulling all the necessary stunts to really increase their gamers. Recently, the SyNet folks announced their newest promotion called “Double your items. Double your fun!”. From the promotion title alone, you may already have an inkling on what's in store for you, but let us elaborate on that some more. Players have the opportunity to take advantage of two offers; offers that are not related and are not mutually exclusive.

The first offer is the “Buy One, Get One Free Red Tiger/Pink Bear 250 Golf Ball Promotion”. Players who purchase one of the new golf balls (Red Tiger and Pink Bear) will receive the other model (good for 100 holes usage) for free. The Pink Bear Golf Ball is blessed with +2 Impact, +1 Power while the Red Tiger Golf Ball has +2 Power, +1 Impact. There is no limit to the amount of free golf balls you can acquire during this promotional period.

The second offer is the “Double Guild Points” Promotion. If you're the team player type then this might be something for you.  The guild that manages to gain the most guild points by the end of this promotion will receive a free Odlelile I (Double Guild Points for 100 holes) for every member of the guild. Also, the winning Guild Master will receive a free complete set of 3x fitting tickets (Power, Impact, Stamina and Skill) and a free full set of Tornado R Clubs. The free item distribution will be during the next maintenance period. Only the guild members who are in the guild when the event starts will be eligible to receive the free items.